Cha’alt: Fuchsia Malaise Proves That More Madness Is More Better

The cover gives two very good reasons to review this favorably.

Cha’alt: Fuchsia Malaise by Venger Satanis is the sequel… sorta… to Cha’alt. These products are not pure setting books (like the 17 quadrillion Forgotten Realms books I remember from 3E), or character option books, and they aren’t just dungeons to use. They are a sort of regional setting with some dungeons and character options. And pop-culture references. And character death. And sexual innuendos. And the potential to the end the world in more than one way. With a healthy dose of genius (or madness, hard to tell them apart) added on top.

While owning Cha’alt is not strictly necessary to use Cha’alt: Fuchsia Malaise, I would highly recommend using both products together. This review is based on the pdf (physical copy should come later this year).

I mentioned earlier that that Cha’alt: Fuchsia Malaise is a sequel. It moves the timeline a few months after the situations described of Cha’alt. Some new factions and new locations have appeared in the desert. All of the new stuff is easy to integrate into a pre-existing game happening in Cha’alt and the new content makes logical sense. Even though the world of Cha’altis a gonzo world of futuristic technology and high magic, somehow it all works here. Can’t quite explain it.

Like Cha’alt before it, Cha’alt: Fuchsia Malaise is a sandbox that allows the party the freedom to explore and go wherever they want. There is always something weird and unique around the corner.

The Good

– Much better organization of the material than Cha’alt. There is even an index! There are new character options at the beginning, some setting information, dungeons, and then the appendices. It flows nicely and is easy to find what you are looking for.

– Weird and wild magic/technological items for your players to get their hands/tentacles/paws on. This module is not filled with +1 swords, no siree! There are items that let you summon diminutive candy clown devils, travel through time while dreaming, and, of course, laser caltrops.

– Expands on a couple of places mentioned in Cha’alt, specifically A’agrybah and the Crimson Rock of Sacrifice.

– If you enjoy gonzo, I cannot recommend this enough!

– The interior organization / layout / art is a mix of digital art, live people/props, and what I assume are paintings. It really gives you a vision of what Cha’alt is supposed to be.

– If you buy the pdf at Drive Thru RPG, the maps are included as separate downloads. There are a couple versions of the two big maps, numbered and not numbered. If you run on a virtual tabletop, this is a huge help.

– Enough strange events and encounters to keep players in the desert for a looooooooooooong time.

– It is simultaneously post-apocalyptic and (depending on the actions of the players) pre-apocalyptic.

– This:

No, it is not.

The Bad

– Treasure seems a little light if you run a gold-for-xp game (like I do). Now, Venger uses his Crimson Dragon Slayer system for the books (but it is easy to convert to any other system), which does not have gold-for-xp. He was even kind enough to include the rules for Crimson Dragon Slayer in one of the appendices. I would recommend looking at the HD of the monsters and consider giving them treasure equivalent to a monster with similar HD from the system you use.

The Ugly

– Still no coupons for free mozzarella cheese sticks.

TL;DR

Cha’alt: Fuchsia Malaise is more Cha’alt. If you liked Cha’alt, you will love Cha’alt: Fuchsia Malaise. It’s full of gonzo goodness!

You can buy it here. I get NO financial benefit from any sales.

P.S. My beloved wife, if you are reading this, just because the title has the word “Fuchsia” in it, doesn’t mean I accept it as a color. Colors like fuchsia, periwinkle, maroon, vermilion, cerulean, and cornflower don’t exist. It’s all a plot by Big Crayola to get you to buy more crayons. As a kid, I had red, blue, green, yellow, orange, purple, black, and white. THAT WAS GOOD ENOUGH THEN AND IT IS GOOD ENOUGH NOW!